nfd 2012

Showcasing 32 of New Zealands

newest dairyfarm developments

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Te Manawa o

Tuhoe Trust

Page 50-51Rockyfi eldPage 44-47

Bayliss

Equities

Page 18-21

Alpine Dairies

Page 80-81

A special supplement by

Sun Media Ltd07 578 0030

Inside the countrysnewest dairies

Coast & Country Page 2 NEW FARM DAIRIES

FARM DISTRICT PAGE

Poole Taranaki 4-7Gibson Taranaki 8-11Muller Taranaki 12-13Murdoch Taranaki 14-17Bayliss Equities Taranaki 18-21Morrison Taranaki 22-25Oliver Manawatu 26-29Table Flats Holding Manawatu 30-33Nistaben Partnership Southland 34-37Waiawa Southland 38-39Pavlovich Southland 40-41Knapdale Southland 42-43Rockyfield Southland 44-47Windy Ridge Southland 48-49Tuhoe Trust Bay of Plenty 50-51Singh Waikato 54-57Sinclair Waikato 58-59Troughton Waikato 60-63Bolt Waikato 64-65Kaiawa Waikato 66-67Mid Island Developments Waikato 68-69Mourits Waikato 70-73Mulgere Farming Canterbury 74-75Willowcliff Canterbury 76-77Quigley Farm Canterbury 78-79Alpine Dairies Canterbury 80-81Highfield Canterbury 82-83LH Dairies Canterbury 84-87Elbury Farms Northland 88-91Karl Farms Thames/Hauraki 92-93Gray Thames/Hauraki 94-95Gregory Family Trust Central Plateau 96-99

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027 281 7427

Pride in dairies justifiedTheres no one more proud than the farmer with a brand new, or newly upgraded dairy.Not even the owner of an architecturally designed

million dollar mansion in suburbia can equal the enthusiasm of the 32 farm owners featured in the 2012 edition of New Farm Dairies for the facilities they have built.

Their pride is more than justified. These well designed, robust, functional facilities dont just look good, unlike the city mansion - they make money.

Equipped with the worlds latest milk harvesting and animal health technology, these dairies are a testament to the commitment of their owners to the industry which remains the mainstay of the New Zealand economy.

There are few small businesses which invest so heavily in their industry and in protecting environment as dairy farmers.

Most have gone beyond just whats required in their resource consents and designed effluent systems to deliver even better results for the land they farm and the waterway which flow through or nearby.

The modern dairy is about cow comfort and thought is given herd flow, yards cows are happy to walk into and out of and to how cows enter and leave a milk-ing platform. Many dairies use technology to check animal health, so early signs of mastitis in particular are

detected and acted upon. Automatic cup removers in many not only make it easier for the milkers, but also prevent cows being over milked.

These 32 dairies are modern, well designed, aestheti-cally pleasing facilities which sit well in their rural landscapes and for our dedicated New Farm Dairies team of rural specialists visiting, photographing and writing about these facilities has been a privilege.

We appreciate being made so welcome and the gener-osity of farmers and all those involved in the projects in sharing their knowledge and experiences of building a new farm dairy.

Its that generosity and openness which is a hallmark of New Zealands highly successful dairy industry and also the reason the New Farm Dairies publication has become a must read resource for anyone planning to begin their own new dairy project. Many of those featured this year had used previous editions as a valued research tool to assist in making decisions about their projects.

As usual we are well advanced with preparations for the next nationwide edition of New Farm Dairies and as usual, spaces are filling fast.

To be featured in New Farm Dairies 2012 call us early to avoid disappointment - Sun Media 07 578 0030 or Lois McKinley on 027 281 7427.

No.1 The Strand PO Box 240 Tauranga 3140 phone 07 578 0030 fax 07 571 1116 email [email protected]

Publishers Brian & Claire Rogers.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 3NEW FARM DAIRIES

Building a new dairy is about improving effi ciencies

and milk quality, but for many farm owners

its also about retaining good staff.

Creating an environment which is pleasant and easy to work in and reduces milking time are attributes the 32 owners of new dairies featured in our 2012 publication wanted to achieve, and in every case they did.

Taking into account the needs of workers when building a new facility makes sound economic sense, says Wendy Macphail of Employment Law Services.

Good facilities do help retain good staff because for staff the job is not just about remuneration but other aspects as well. Staff who feel valued and have good support and feedback from their employer will perform at their best.

On the other hand, Wendy says employees who feel they are not valued can cost farmers dearly, if they choose.

Cases of workers sabotaging cowsheds and affecting milk quality are not uncommon and of course thats costly for the farmer.

Many of the farmers featured in this edition of New Farm Dairies have involved their staff in the planning and design of the new facilities with the result that the employees take a real sense of ownership and pride, keeping the dairy clean and

operating well. Asking staff what works and what they would like in a dairy makes sense because the human resource is the most important resource of all and farmer owners who spend time fi nding out what their staff want will be well rewarded because happy staff will have a positive effect on production.

By the time farmer owners are in a posi-tion to spend signifi cant sums on a new, high tech dairy, many are no longer involved in regular milking so they design their facilities, not for them-selves, but their staff.

Even in a time of high unemploy-ment, there is strong competition in the dairy industry for top quality staff and sharemilkers so farms which offer the latest in milking facilities have an immedi-ate advantage.

The dairies featured in New Farm Dairies range from extended herringbones to brand new rotaries, from no-frills to ultra high tech and all are radically dif-ferent from the very basic walk-through sheds of last century.

The technology has far outstripped that of even 20 years ago with almost every aspect of the milking operation able to be monitored and much of it automated.

Theres a strong recognition that while the facilities must be safe, pleasant and easy to work in for staff, the same considera-

tions must be given to cows too. In each of the 32 new dairies, careful thought was

given to herd fl ow, so animals would be happy to enter and leave the dairy. How they accessed

and left the milking area was also taken into account, recognising that contented cows will produce more milk.

Introducing cows to a new facility can be challenging.

Creatures of habit, many dont take kindly to change, especially if it is from a herringbone system to a rotary. However,

experienced farmers and staff who understand their cows quietly coax them into the new

dairy, often using molasses or other treats to tempt the girls.

These new dairies will be part of the rural landscape for many years to come, but inside its certain the tech-

nology and equipment used to operate them will be regularly up-dated as new innovations are introduced to make milking quicker and more pleasant for staff and cows, at the same time producing a high quality, safe and valuable product for consum-ers nationally and worldwide.

New dairies help retain staff

Retaining staff among

considerations in building a

new dairy

Our modular automation offers you solutions like no-one else can

Choose the system to suit your needs from a simple automated drafting gate to a powerful sensor based system.

Get miHub, our revolutionary online herd management software with every automated solution to give you the decision making power you need.

Call us now for more information or to set up a shed visit with a MilkHub farmer on 0800 MilkHub

Every cow. Every milking. Every day.0800 MilkHub | milkhub.co.nz | [email protected]

Wendy Macphail from Employment Law Services.

Coast & Country Page 4 POOLE

This Taranaki sheds unique octagonal design is somewhat reminiscent of a very

large tent, but its strong, it works very well and looks superb.

Steve and Maria Poole have been on this farm near Manaia in Taranaki for 10 years, until now milking in a 30 year old, 60 bail shed. But the old shed had reached the point where it needed too much main-tenanceand it was not in the right place for their expanded 210ha farm.

Next season they will milk 820 cows in two herds, so they decided it was time to upgrade. And what an upgrade. Theyve gone for a 60 bail rotary Fabish & Jackson designed Octa-Lock building with a state of the art DeLaval milking plant.

Both Steve and Maria and their three full time staff are looking forward to the new season in the dairy. They only began using it in mid-May to fi nish the season, so they dont yet know how long a milking will take, but they estimate about one and three-quarter hours.

Its not so much the time but the comfort. One man can operate the shed so you dont both have to be stuck there for two hoursone man can do the fi rst herd, so hes there for only about an hour, then the other man can come and milk the second herd, said Steve.

They chose Fabish & Jackson because Steve liked the Octa-Lock building with its neat fi nish, no wasted space and theyre a local company based in Inglewood.

We specialise in dairy sheds and also chicken sheds, along with a bit of housing, said Steve Fabish. Theres plenty of work around here to keep us busy at the moment.

With a staff of 25 theyre more than capable of handling pretty much any job from a small 17 bail rotary (that they built back when they fi rst started) up to a massive 100 bail job. On the Pooles shed they did all the construction except the pipe-work in the yard.

We do all our own designing, all the engineering gets done in New Plymouth. Theyre a nice shed to work ineveryone thats got them loves them, said Steve Fabish. Steve (Poole) looked at it for

Distinctive octagonal shape strong and practical

By Graeme Dobson

will take, but they estimate about one and three-quarter hours.

work ineveryone thats got them loves them, said Steve Fabish. Steve (Poole) looked at it for

will take, but they estimate about one and three- work ineveryone thats got them loves them, said Steve Fabish. Steve (Poole) looked at it for

will take, but they estimate about one and three-quarter hours.

work ineveryone thats got them loves them, said Steve Fabish. Steve (Poole) looked at it for

The Octa-Lock building provides a very neat clean fi nish.

The Fabish and Jackson Octa-Lock building system can be clearly seen in the

roof construction.

From L to R Farm hands Jarrico Murray and Steffen Sahin, Gary Wallace, Paul Gibson, owners Maria and Steve Poole, Michael Bloemen,

Mark Frost and builder Steve Fabish.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 5POOLE

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a couple of years before he decided to go with us. By then he knew what he wanted. We have a guy in the offi ce that just does the design, so he sat down with him and went through it; then the engi-neer had a look, Steve said.

PrefabricatedThe octagonal building is prefabricated in the factory

before being shipped out to the customer. Its a quick construction, all the pre-cast panels get

made in our yard back in Inglewood along with all the panelling and laminated beamsweve got our own laminated beam plant. Everything gets done in house, it comes out on a truck and we stand it up on site, he explained. This year weve changed a bit and gone to all aluminium windows for durability, and they look better than the clear-lite.

Steve told me they do between fi ve and eight sheds a year all over New Zealand. Theyve even done a 70 bail rotary in Walesshipped it over and went over and assembled itand send kit-set jobs as far as Peru.

After a lot of investigation the Pooles had a DeLaval milking system installed in the shed.

We looked at a lot of sheds, theyve all got their good points, but in the end DeLaval ticked the most boxes with us, said Steve.

DeLaval has over 125 years of innovation and experi-ence in the dairy business and their Sustainable Dairy Farming initiative is making a solid contribution to farming. Their experience is vital to their production of top quality equipment to meet all of the farmers needs.

Dairypro Taranaki, run by managing director Paul Gibson along with business partner and installation manager Gary Wallace, is the De Laval agent for South Taranaki. Dairypros core business is fi tting milking systems, but they also do water pumps and water systems so they had no problem with Steves joband the Dairypro team did the lot.

We installed all the milking system to the platform and all the associated equipment, as well as all the waterwash down, vat washes, hot water cylinders, cooling pumps, said Gary. All the gear we put in is sourced from the best available so that we dont have to come back and deal with problems later on.

Up to dateGary is the computer man and was keen to explain

the technology.This operation has the most up to date technology

installed, explained Gary. Its a full DeLaval Alpro Herd Management System. Each cow is identifi ed

as she comes onto the platform and there are systems in place to stop her being milked if she is recorded as do not milkit wont allow vacuum onto the cluster. We can draft the cow automatically directly from the bail or enter her number manually on a key pad in the operator area. The three-way drafting out in the yard is all linked to the platform. Everything runs from the central computer in the offi ce, and theres the ability to work it remotely.

The cows identity is checked three times, once when she walks into the bail, again at cups on and then again as she leaves, so theres no chance that the wrong cow will be recorded or drafted.

as she comes onto the platform and there are as she comes onto the platform and there are as she comes onto the platform and there are

The switch under the platform triggers the electronic

confi rmation of the cow in the bail above.

DeLaval fi ttings under the platform.

Hotter engineering

M a n u f a c t u r e r s o f q u a l it y r o t a r y c o w s h e d sC N C L a t h ew o r k ~ C N C P r es s br a k e ~ R o bo t W el d in g ~ S t r uc t ur a l S t eel

Tel: (06) 764 7059 ~ Fax: (06) 764 5192www: agritechnz.co.nz ~ Email: [email protected]

2 Collingwood Street ~ ElthamP roud winners of the Westpac/T aranaki C hamber of C ommerce

B us iness V itality Medium B us iness Award 2005

PH 0508 726 726www.sammachinery.co.nz

Coast & Country Page 6 POOLE

Comprehensive training for computer system

De Laval blood and

conductivity meters are the most

accurate on the market today and are all ICAR

approved, giving milk yield accuracy within a tight 1.5 per cent.

Every cow is tested as shes milked and the computer is programmed to prevent

cows with blood or conductivity exceeding a pre-set level being milked and alerts the milker.

The system provides a lot of information at your fi ngertips but is extremely simple to operate and Paul

explained that Dairypro provides full training to farmers and

workers, giving them the fundamentals fi rst, then after a month or so they come back with

the next lesson. Its standard with every Alpro System that we give

them comprehensive training sessions as well as constant phone support. We challenge and encourage farmers to use

the system to its full potential as it makes running the farm business easier, said Paul. Theres a full In Service pro-gramme for this shed, as with an operation this size servicing and keeping it up to scratch is the key.

Worlds fi rst rotaryThe rotary platform was supplied by local company Hotter

Engineering. Hotters have a signifi cant claim to fame, not just locally, or even nationally, but worldwidein 1969 T E Hotter Ltd designed and installed the worlds fi rst rotary milking platform near Eltham. The name Hotter soon became synonymous with state-of-the-art technology and, through a company called Turn-styles Ltd, were exporting world-wide.

Twenty years ago Russell Hotter bought the fi rm off his father and created Hotter Engineering Ltd and offer a range of platforms made from steel, corrosion resistant alloy or concrete. They supply all DeLavals platforms and are continu-ing to develop their productsthey have a trial platform that

runs 24/7 where they test new products and ideas. Their quality is such that they were one of the main factors in the Pooles choosing DeLaval.

One of the most important things is their Hotter platform, said Steve. Ive seen other platforms that have developed cracks, but Ive never seen a bad Hotter platform.

Mark Frost Electrical came in to do the electrical installation in the shed and yards, from organising the incoming power supply to powering it all up. As well as the general wiring to the shed such as the lighting and power points, Marks work included helping with the installation of the DeLaval milking system, the platform control, drafting set up and refrigera-tionin fact they did the lot. Of course all this required considerable co-ordination with all the other contractors from putting in all the conduits before the fl oor was poured to the last power points after Surfatex fi nished the painting.

Mark and his team drew on their considerable experience in dairy electrical design and installation gained over years of

runs 24/7 where they test new products and

is such that they were one of the main factors in the Pooles choosing

their Hotter platform, said Steve. Ive seen other platforms that have developed

Michael Bloemen with his patented backing gate.

The yards are cleaned by a fl ood wash system.

The cows are checked in the bail and again as they leave.

The concrete feed pad is attached to the yards.

The Wetit spray delivery unit.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 7POOLE

By Graeme Dobson

Comfy, quiet, efficient dairy keeps workers happyservicing the entire south, coastal

and central Taranaki. But cow sheds are not their only work, they will happily take on anything from domestic to large commercial projects and they supply and install Toshiba, Panasonic and Carrier heat pumps.

SimpleThey also installed the Wetit Automatic Teat

Spray system that was the only thing Steve brought over from the old shed.

Its pretty good with keeping the cell count down, said farm worker Stephan. The Wetit waves are new and weve noticed the difference in how the cows standthey have to stand with their legs apart and we get a much better spray coverage.

Wetit have been in the business of teat sprays for over 17 years during which their research has contributed to developing a system that gives a teat coverage second to none, with no fuss and minimal maintenance.

Therere a lot of systems out now, but most have a lot of moving parts that can go wrong. Wetit is basic, it works well and not much can go wrong, added Steve.

Outside the shed theres a lot of pipe work in the yards and attached feed-padin fact according to Michael from Michael Bloemen Engineering who did the job (with a few staff ), about 300 hours-worth. Based just up the road, Michaels been in the engineering business servicing farms for 15 years. A few years ago he designed and patented a backing gate, which

he now manufactures and suppliescurrently therere 32 of them installed throughout the country.

Were not out to sell big numbers, at the moment were selling about five a year, about half of those in Taranaki, said Michael. We call it the High Runner Backing Gate and its designed specifically for rectangular yards. The average width is twelve metres, but weve made them up to sixteen metres wide with no problem at allwe can make them to whatever the farmer wants.

Four wheel driveAfter starting out with just two-wheel drive

Michael discovered that there was occasion slipping, especially when the customer wanted a Dung Buster added to the gate, so he started making four wheel drive models. Now regardless of whether theres a Dung Buster or a scraper added there is never any slippage.

The gate works very well with a scraper. This has a flood wash yard cleaning system, but in the summer there are often some sods left, with a scraper on the gate its perfectly clean every time, explained Michael.

Back inside, Palmerston North based company Surfatex Ltd added the finish to the shed. Surfatex are specialists in commercial and industrial surface pro-tection, which includes dairy sheds..

We use Surfatex for most of our sheds; weve been using them for about 15years now. Their works goodweve

never had a problem with it, said Steve. Very durable surface, water blast and hose

it all the time and it doesnt affect it. Its a good product.

Theyre the only licensed applicators in the lower North Island of the Acraflex Dairy Wall Coating, which is designed specifically to seal the walls with a hard wearing and easy to clean finish. And it looks good, too.

Earthworks was contracted to yet another local company, Bunn Earthmoving.

Over the years Bunn Earthmoving have done all Steves drainage and other earthworks on the farm, most recently when there was a lot of fill needed on the site for the new sheds foundations. Steve said that

theyre good to deal with, reliable and always do a good job.

Pretty much like his new dairyreliable and does a good job, and its comfortable as well, which keeps the staff happy. Workers Stephan and Jarrico both agree:

This new shed is very quiet. The cows are happy, and we really enjoy coming to work.

The cows are checked again in the bail.

Gary Wallace(L) and Paul Gibson from Dairypro Taranaki.

Coast & Country Page 8 GIBSON

Tom Gibson grew up three kilometres down the road

from this farm, although back in his day that would equate to two miles. Tom has been farming all his life, and is

a genuine cow cocky through and through.Tom purchased the farm at

auction 50 years ago and has quite clearly made a huge success of the farm. The farm is beautiful, and although on the day I

visited it was tiddling down with rain, I could still enjoy the

beauty and splendour of Toms farm.Tom tried to make me believe he

was born under a boxthorn hedge at the bottom of the garden, and for a second I actually believed him, but then I am very gullible.

The new dairy was a sight for sore eyes, and was bright and airy, with lots of room to move and make yourself at home in.

This is Toms third farm dairy in 50 years. This will last for the rest of my life plus some.

The farm consists of 100 hectares, with 93 effective hec-tares and 400 jersey cows are milked through the shed.

Brendan Kerr is the contract-milker and has worked for Tom for 13 seasons, albeit in two separate stints. Brendan went overseas, got married and returned back to New Zealand to work for Tom. Brendan says he was a little

worried how he would handle a modern dairy, but he just loves it.

Tom assisted with the fi rst fi ve milkings. The fi rst took fi ve and a half hours, but now it takes a mere one hour and ten to milk with a 10 minute cleanup.

Tom had a good look around at various other builds before deciding that the Don Chapman design was the best. There was plenty of light. The one thing I had always been told was never have lights in the shed, says Tom. So we got lights, but also have plenty of natural light as well.

It is altogether different milking in this dairy to the old herringbone or walk-through.

The cows still seem to come through in the same order.Tom started off in his fathers walk-through shed, and

every winter they used to take the cups out and boil up the rubbers, but of course they only had three or four cows to handle. Tom says he made enough pocket money in those days to play piano professionally, and he says with a good belly laugh, that he doesnt think he could milk a cow by hand anymore.

Tom says that just before the second world-war milking machines were introduced into New Zealand.

Its been a great life milking cows, the trouble is it rubs off on you and you get very much like a cow after a few years, laughs Tom. I generally wander around every now and then like a cow when something upsets me.

Tom quite clearly loves his cows. He also still enjoys milking and reckons there is still another 10 years left in him yet.

Tom had very little input into the shed. Once the builder and milking plant were sorted they all made the decisions for Tom. He says he has no regrets whatsoever, as being Taranaki people all the contractors got along well and just worked in together.

Everyone was very happy with the end result, and it came in under budget, so the contractors

Third new dairy will out-last Tom

Contract Milker Brendan Kerr.

Chris Watkins from Waikato Milking Systems.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 9GIBSON

The Waikato Milking System

s Platform.

Quinton Oakes - Builder.

Looking out into the yard that was constructed by Jennings

Engineering, in foreground, the Surfatex coating.

Effluent recycled back to pasturedecided it would be a good idea to spend the remaining

budget, and while I was interviewing, an extensive list was being created to spend the extra dosh.

Gaining KnowledgeQuinton Oakes met me at Tom Gibsons new dairy shed just

out of Manaia, on a very wet and miserable Taranaki day.Quinton has been in business for 10 years and is in partner-

ship with his wife Tracey. Based at Kaponga in Taranaki, this is the first Don Chapman farm dairy that Quinton has built. He was already half way through building Toms shed when the dealership was offered to him.

Quinton was offered the Taranaki agency for Don Chapman sheds and he jumped at the chance to

be associated with Dons good repu-tation. Quinton stresses that Don is a fantastic guy to be a dealer for as he has a good reputation and is so easy to deal with.

Quinton spent four months on the shed build.

The roof is a feature that gets taken for granted, but this

one has clear panelling in it to let in the light and

cut down on electri-cal lighting and lets the heat out during the hot summer months.

Quinton also did the post and

rail fencing along the tanker track.

Toms shed was a good one for Quinton to start with for Don Chapman.

The vet platform, as well as backing gates, dung-buster and channel drains were all Dons design.

Tom say that the vet platform was far more safety con-scious than the old plank they used to use.

Local block-layer Wes Snowdon did all the block-laying as well as the underpass installation.

Tom says Don and Quinton were an ease to deal with, nothing was a problem and they were just a phone call away for advice. They listen to the farmer, and design yarding that actually works. There is such a huge amount of knowledge gained when purchasing a Don Chapman shed.

Lepperton contractor Wes Snowdon from Masonry Construction laid all the block-work as one of Quintons subbies.

Wes has been running his own business for the past three years but has been in the trade for 10 years.

Wes says that overall he probably spent about two weeks on the job in spits and spurts as required. He laid the circular foundation for the platform, constructed the underpass in the shed, laid all the block-work for the wing walls, the tank pad and the loading ramp, plus the curve in the yard.

The dairy has the usual roomy milking parlour with a selec-tion of rooms around the outside of it. There is an office,

which houses the computers, a large electrical and storage room, plus the milk room, toilet and staff room.

On the GoElectrician Craig Corrigan Electrical from Opunake installed

all the new wiring and installing and integrating a mains generator capability was also a requirement for the job, as Tom has a generator on a trailer which is transported between two farms as the need arises. The generator will run the shed as well as the sludge system at the same time.

Craig and his two assistants wired up the Waikato Milking Systems console and platform.

www.chapmandairy.com

With a lifetime of experience designing and building milking parlours, were well equipped to create a design that suits your exact needs, no matter what.

Our customised design process provides a choice of options in shed styles, yard layout, plant room design and pipe work confi guration.

High cow fl ow effi ciency

Herringbone or rotary design

Permanent & low maintenance

All surfaces are easy to clean

Call us today for an on-site design consultation

07 889 6168 Don Chapman BuildersMorrinsville

For a more ef cient milking parlourWe are the specialists in milking parlour design and construction

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QUINTIN OAKES BUILDERS LTD

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Coast & Country Page 10

The entire job took about four months on and off with two staff members. Craig said he had three sheds on the go at once, so it was a fairly hectic winter.

Craig has been in the electrical industry for 17 years, and in the local Opunake region for four and a half years.

Well specifi ed systemA 54 bail Waikato Orbit Rotary Plat-

form with a three meter wide concrete deck has been installed at this farm.

The milking system is a proven 100mm Looped Waikato Milking System mounted onto Waikatos unique SmartFit machine mounts.

The milking system has many useful features such as G2 Cluster washers with variable fl ow controls and non

return valves, Waikato 320 claws and standard weight shells, a Fristam high performance milk-pump with variable speed controls, a Maxi top loading fi lter and industrial milk cooler.

The most important feature though is the addition of SmartD-Tect an early warning mastitis detection system that checks every cow at every milking alert-ing the operator to an animal with a potential problem. Used independently or linked via SmartLink, SmartD-Tect will identify the onset of mastitis at a sub clinical level using a combination of conductivity measurement and temp readings. Adjustable threshold settings means the farmer can tune the system to get the best result. SmartD-Tect is a scientifi cally proven system and proof that useful technology is now at a farmers fi ngertips.

Tuning system for best results

By Lois McKinley

Left to right: Tom Gibson, Craig Corrigan, Brendan Kerr, Chris Watkins

(Waikato Milking Systems) Nigel Robinson, and Quinton Oakes.

Craig Corrigan from Craig Corrigan Electrical in Opunake.Other key equipment in the dairy includes a

Waikato Blower vacuum pump, Smart ECRs (electronic cup removers) and a Waikato Milk Recover system.

On the platform is SmartSpray, a deck mounted teat spray system activated by the electronic cup removers that automatically sprays the teats a short time after cup removal, an event requiring no user intervention.

BailGates mounted individually in every bail, are activated by the cup removers at the end of milking. BailGates ensure cows can be kept on the platform if need necessary and provide better animal control.

Variable speed SmartDrives control the milk and

vacuum pumps. Apart from maintaining the most stable vacuum and the best milk quality, a Smart-Drive connected to the milk pump can control water fl ow and improve the effi ciency of the plate cooler. A SmartDrive connected to the vacuum pump will conserve power and help reduce the overall running costs of a dairy.

The milking machine is equipped with a Smart-Wash automatic wash system. This device controls the wash process automatically while at the same time providing programming fl exibility for most wash events.

No drop wastedEvery drop of effl uent is recycled back onto Toms

farm. The effl uent is the biggest headache of the whole shed, says Tom. A 22,000 litre tank holds the effl uent and from there it is pumped out over the farm.

Hiding cow muckAll the block-work was applied with an application

of an Acrafl ex Dairy Wall coating by Surfatex from Palmerston North. Acrafl ex coatings are designed specifi cally for the dairy industry. The acrafl ex seals against bacterial build up, is hardwearing, very easy to clean and will brighten up any working dairy shed. The unique "Flecked" fi nish not only looks great, but helps to hide cow muck.

GIBSON

PH 07 578 0030 Page 11GIBSON

Zero perch for birds

Improved work place conditions

Improved animal welfare

Reduction in temperature of the cow

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Coast & Country Page 12 MULLER Coast & Country Page 12 Coast & Country Page 12 MULLER

Owners played a hands-on role in constructionHammers thumped, saws screamed

and the blue glow of welders lit the gloom of a Taranaki winter as workmen raced to have the shed

ready for the new season.Peter Muller has owned this farm for about

10 years, but over that time he has grown it to the 120 ha (about 300 acre) property it is now. Today his son Stephen and partner Nerida share milk 370 cows, until now in a fairly basic 24 bail rotary that was at least 30 years old. But with the growth of the farm it was clear that this was no longer the most effi cient way to go, so last year they decided to upgrade to a 44 bail rotary with a concrete platform and a Westfalia Surge milking plant.

After doing their homework (as all sensible farmers do when theyre outlaying this much money) Peter and Stephen decided on a design and a builder.

I only employ credible people, people with good reputations, said Peter. Im pretty fussy

about that. So they went to Doug Fowell from Heritage Farm Dairies. Hed heard that Doug had been established in the area for at least 17 years and had specialised in farm dairies for 15 of those. Doug takes pride in his approach of on-going consultation with clients to ensure they get exactly what they want, and an added bonus was that Dougs idea of working with the customer is not just on-going consultationif a farmer wants to actually work on the building hes more than happy to accommodate them. As a hands on sort of bloke, that was pretty much exactly what Peter wanted. Peter even supplied some of the materials, like the steel beams in the roof and steel lintels above the doors that he had salvaged from an old hospital building on some land hed bought.

Any time the farmer wants to get involved and become hands on thats fi ne, we just make sure things are getting done as they should

be, said Doug. The site for the new shed is just across from the old one and uses the old yards, but the site needed building up so Peter and Stephen (with occasional help from a contractor) got that sorted. Site works were started in November 2011 and were complete and ready for construction to begin in January

this year. Since then Stephens been fully involved working alongside

the builders.

Proven designThis dairy has pretty much all

Heritage Farm Dairies standard featuressuch as an offi ce with an AB and vetting stand outside

it, a closed in chemical room and a staff room and toilet. Weve got a proven design, but

when it comes to the fi ner details we like to work closely with the customer to cus-tomise the building and set up exactly what they want, explained Doug. Peter knew exactly what he wanted so it was just a case of us getting together.

Despite building work still going on the

Westfalia Surge milking plant has been installed by Westfalias New Plymouth agents, Rural Taranaki Ltd, now theyre just wait-ing for the power to commission it. Peter explained why, after checking around hed opted for Westfalia Surge.

One of the things that impressed me is the support under the platform. There are two rollers under every cow, its very well sup-ported. And theres very little welding, its all galvanised and bolted. Were pretty exposed to the south with a lot of salt, so that was important to us.

Westfalia Milking platforms are manu-factured in Australia and the same design is used all around the world. The whole lot was shipped in in a container and was bolted together on site.

Rural Taranaki are kept pretty busy around the areanot only do they install and service dairy plant machinery, they also sell and install pumps and water fi ltration systems.

And where there are old but serviceable milking plants they can extend their life by upgrading and automating them with state-of-the art technology.

The old shed. A work in progress.Another Doug Fowell shed being constructed.

I only employ credible people,

people with good reputations

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PH 07 578 0030 Page 13MULLER

A new dairy shed and a new bridge built too

By Graeme Dobson

As well as being agents for Westfalia Surge Milking plant and Westfalia Sepera-tor, Rural Taranaki are also agents for Wetit teat sprays so they were due be back in Peters shed in to get his Wetit Automatic Teat Spray system up and spraying.

Peter and Stephen are well aware of impor-tance of cow udder hygiene for the control of mastitis so they use the Wetit system to ensure their cows teats and udders are well protected. After 17 years in the business of teat sprays Wetit reckon their research has developed a system that gives a teat coverage second to none, but research is on-going to make sure they stay in front of the field.

To supply power to the milking platform

(and everything else) Peter hired Sinclair Elec-trical. Sinclair have often worked with Heritage Farm Dairies so Peter was quite happy to go with this recommendation when it came to putting in the dairys wiring and refrigeration. Sinclairs are based in nearby Opunake and have a reputation among the locals for being good and reliable tradesmen, as well as being pleasant to deal with.

And the finishing touches were put to the dairy by D R Gray Ltd, local painters from just down the road in Hawera.

We usually use Jack Gray for all our paint-ing, said Doug. They come in and do all the block work, then theyll paint all the rooms and the rest of it (when the builders are fin-

ished). The only thing they didnt do was some of the staining and painting on the timber workthat was done by Stephen and Nerida.

Bridging a streamOutside, the new dairy needed a new access

way for the tanker, which meant bridging a stream in a fairly deep gully. Enter Presco Products, specialists in prestressed concrete, to build the foundations and abutments for a substantial bridge. Presco Products designed the bridge to transit specifications (54 tonne) which means it can take the tanker or a fully loaded truck and trailer of palm kernel.

Presco Products originally started in 1991 with an industrial electrical business that some-

how morphed into Presco Products producing concrete products.

We bought this concrete business and devel-oped it into what we now call Presco Products which produces precast products for farms. Anything for farms from troughs to clip-together modular bins for palm kernel, said Presco Products Contract Manager, Joshua Prestidge. And they still have the industrial electrical business.

And, Doug assured me, the new dairy would be completed before the season startedIm sure Stephen and Nerida will be looking for-ward to being able to go from the old and into the new as soon as possible.

Kaine Maddox from Rural Taranaki with some of the plant he is installing.

Kaine Maddox from Rural Taranaki; Joshua Prestidge from Presco Products; farm owner Peter Muller and

Builder Doug Fowell from Doug Fowell Construction.

Kaine Maddox from Rural Taranaki inspects the roller system.

Joshua Prestidge from Presco Products with the bridge they built.

The new Westfalia plant is in place and ready to go.

Kaine Maddox from Rural Taranaki with the Westfalia milking plant.

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Coast & Country Page 14 MURDOCH TRUST

All three sons are dairy farmers, with Aaron and his wife Kate winning the Taranaki sharemilker of the year competition for 2011.

Four years ago Jim and Bronwyn purchased a drystock farm at Maxwell.

Their sons managed to talk them into con-verting this into a dairy farm.

In January 2011 the sons got talking to Jim about putting the money into dairy-ing, as there was just not enough income off drystock.

On the fi rst of April the fi rst post was dug, and by July 25 the operation was up and run-

ning. Jarrod had a huge input into the setup of the farm.

The farm consists of 111 hectares, with 80 effective hectares and milks 225 cows.

Alexander Contractors (ACL) were hired to do the full earthworks job for the conversion, including all races and crossings as well as site prep for the new house, dairy shed and tanker track.

Richard Alexander has been in business in the local area for 18 years, and has a selection of heavy machinery including fi ve diggers, a grader, two trucks and trailers and a trans-

porter. The Alexanders also have their own shellrock quarry, which is a handy addition to the business.

Richard constructed all the new races using a base of AP40 and topped with AP20 race fi nes. Two crossing were also installed with culverts underneath. In total approximately 15000 cubes of soil was removed for the entire job.

Richard used metal from his own quarry for the site base on both the dairy shed and new house. The tanker track was laid with AP60, as were the house and shed sites.

All up Alexander Contracting spent two months at the Murdochs.

The new dairy is a 34 aside herringbone Waikato Milking Systems shed, which has been set-up with 26 sets of cups for now. The reason Jim chose to go with a Waikato shed was because it was a New Zealand made plant and was simplistic to run.

Chris Watkins from Waikato Milking Sys-tems says Simplicity-wise very few sheds are as hi-tech in terms of function and use. This design is so easy for the farmer to use.

Drystock to dairy in less than four monthsJim Murdoch and his wife Bronwyn live in Whenuakura near Patea. They have lived in the area for 25 years, after making the move over

from Levin. The farm at Maxwell is a beautiful rolling farm with gorgeous sea views as far as the eye can see. The couple have three

sons Aaron, Jarrod and Daniel, plus daughter Bailee.

Jim Murdoch & Jared Belton.Contract M

ilkers - Vance & Tiff

any

Davies with their da

ughter Lauren

and newborn son R

iley.

By Lois McKinley

Waikato Milking plant.Looking down the bail with the PPP feed bins.

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PH 07 578 0030 Page 15 MURDOCH TRUST

The plant is Waikato Supa 4 swing-over herringbone with 26 bails, also equipped with a 100mm milkline, SmartPuls Pulsation with filtered air system, G2 Cluster washers with variable flow controls and non-return valves, a Hurricane slugwash system and Waikato 320 claws and light weight shells.

The claw has a five year warranty, with the seal being the only milk contact point and the only replaceable part.

We make stuff for New Zealand farmers for New Zealand conditions, explains Chris.

A Fristam high performance milk-pump with variable speed flow controls has also been installed along with a Maxi top loading filter and an Industrial milk cooler, and not to forget a Waikato Blower vacuum pump with

SmartAir variable speed drive four inch milk lines and wash injector. There is a smart air variable speed drive.

A Waikato Supa 4 is a high performance swing-over herringbone system capable of milking large volume animals quickly and efficiently. It uses a single 100mm milkline to maintain stable milking vacuum and avoid flooding during peak milk flow periods. The Hurricane slug wash system, a standard feature on Supa 4 ensures excellent cleaning every time. Powered by a 32mm electronic air injector the wash system can be infinitely adjusted to get perfect results and is able to maintain optimum hygienic conditions with-out user intervention. Fast, simple, efficient and the easiest machine to use is how you

would best describe a Waikato Supa 4.The property had a brand spanking new

house built on it for the contract milkers. Jared Belton of Belton Builders took me up to the house for a preview. It is a lovely three bedroom brick home, and is situated on the hilltop to maximise the extensive sea views that the property has to offer.

Jared has been building in Wanganui for four years, and prior to that he was sheep and beef farming in Waitotara. Jared is in partner-ship on his farm with his brothers, but its just not big enough to accommodate the four of them, so Jared decided to go back to his building career. Jared did a four-year appren-ticeship before becoming a qualified builder.

Although Jared is a one-man-band, his brothers are always available when required for a helping hand.

McCarty & Hunger from Patea spent a couple of days at the Murdochs installing the effluent system and wash-down system as well as farm pumps.

I spoke with John who explained to me that McCarty and Hunger is a family owned business, and has been in business in Patea

since 1878. The business has been family owned through four generations. John did his apprenticeship when he worked for his dad and later purchased the business. The business is still operating out of the original building.

John has a selection of trenchers and dig-gers, and runs a very successful engineering business. Johns shop has a huge assortment of pumps, farming products, general hardware and fishing supplies for sale.

The effluent pond is 18m x 18m and 4 metres deep. Effluent is gravity fed to the pond and is then pumped from the pond to the paddocks via a travelling irrigator. The pond was lined with a liner from Aspect Envi-ronmental Lining. The HDPE liner is welded together, with every weld tested prior to leav-ing site. This gives confidence that the pond is leak free and compliant. The HDPE is UV resistant and comes with compre-hensive material and installation guarantees.

John Hunger from McCarty & Hunger.

Efficient swing-over herringbone

2012 will

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50 years o

f

business

NZs first feed

Feed Systems

Coast & Country Page 16 MURDOCH TRUST

Individual feed system for cowsThe liner was installed with the assistance of

Alexander ContractorsThe shed uses dairy detergents purchased

from FIL to keep the plant spic and span. FILs range of hygiene products are suitable for all farms and are New Zealand made.

Their range of specialty cleaners and deter-gents cater for variable water types, foam and temperature profiles, and achieve outstanding cleaning results every time.

The Jim Murdoch Herringbone feed system was the second feed system PPP have installed

for Jim Murdoch.The company was proud to be

selected again to work with Jim and his team.

The PPP feed system is a standard PPP feed system

complete with stainless steel trays with one

dispenser per cow. The feed dis-penser, which is

the heart of the system, can feed

down to 0.50 kg of feed and it has an easy

adjustment tab to change feed rates and with a clear

base this allows the farmer to view there is feed in the dispenser

from within the pit.PPP use large auger lines from the

silo into the shed so the system can handle PKE. The drive units are a spe-cial feature as the motors used are 1.5

kW coupled to robust German manufactured Nord gearboxes - once again to handle PKE.

The silo is a standard 25m3, termed 16-tonner, silo with a sight glass to view the feed in the silo and also fitted with ground opening lid and bag out chute. PPP fit two steel balls into the base of the silo to help PKE flow. A new development is an automated vibrator system that offers a 99 per cent guar-antee that PKE will not bridge.

At a later date PPP can fit a molasses injec-tion system and also add on an in line mineral dispenser system. With one dispenser fitted per cow at a later individualised feeding of cows is also possible herd management.

This would require the addition of a small auger and motor to each dispenser the appro-priate software and hardware to individualise feeding.

PPP celebrates 50 years of business this year. The company is proud to say since 1967 when it installed New Zealands first feed system that it has continued to develop systems to ensure customers have the latest and best possible system for in shed feeding.

PPP have installed feed systems in to small 6-bale walk through up to large 70 aside sheds.

Armourshield Surfaces Ltd from Normanby applied the Specialist Nuplex Epoxy coatings in the shed.

Armourshield Surfaces Ltd are contractors specializing in industrial and commercial epoxy coatings with many years experience applying coatings in cowsheds, dairy factories, process-ing plants and industrial buildings. This work is carried out to new buildings or buildings requiring maintenance or refurbishment. They have been a licensed applicator of Nuplex prod-ucts for over 12 years.

Left to right: Jim Murdoch & Chris Watkins. (Waikato Milking Systems).

Congratulations to the Murdochs on their New Dairy Shed.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 17MURDOCH TRUST

FARM

FERTILITY SERVICE

CALV

ING

HEAL

TH

FEED

ING

MILKING

HYGIENE

MA

NA

GEM

ENT

& SUPPORT

ENV

IRON

MEN

T

Coast & Country Page 18 BAYLISS EQUITIES

The old Shed.

Mentors, now equity partners in Taranaki farm

The old Shed.The old Shed.

Retrofi tting a second hand rotary milking platform with state of the art gear paid

Chris and Harry off big time with a saving of close to half a million dollars.

Chris and Ali McQuaig have an interesting set up on this Taranaki dairy farmtheyre both equity partners in it and share milkers on it - slightly unusual perhaps, but a logi-cal outcome when you look at the farms history and the McQuaigs careers in the dairy industry.

The farm belongs to Harry Bayliss who converted it to dairy in 1981, then slowly built it up by acquir-ing new land. In 2004/5 season Chris and Ali came in as a lower order share milkers and Harry and wife Helen took them under their wing and began acted as business mentors, a role theyve continued ever since. The McQuaigs only stayed on the farm for one season at that time, taking the opportunity to step up to a 50/50 share milking position on a family trust farm. They then moved on to a bigger property near Hawera where they milked 580 cows. But all the while Harry and Helen had been keeping an eye on them and a couple of years ago offered them an equity partnership back on their farm.

Now were 30 per cent share milkers for our company, which we own 35 per cent of. It works well, said Chris enthusiastically.

The farm has now grown to 100 ha effective with another 29 ha runoff just down the road, and Chris milks 400 kiwi and Friesian-cross cows with the help of one staff member while Ali looks after the calves. But the 30 year old rotary was not up to the job so Harry and Chris started looking round for a viable replace-ment. They found it in the form of a 44 bail second-hand steel rotary platform about 15 km away and a builder called Doug Fowell from Heritage Farm Dairies.

Doug has a standard design, then just altered that plan to suit our needs. He spends a lot of time at the start, taking you

around various sheds that hes built, Chris explained. In the end we just picked the best out of a lot of

sheds, just trying to keep the cow fl ow the best we could, says Chris.

We use our experience to ensure no common design faults come into the shed, added Doug, and make sure that cow fl ow (and just as impor-tantly, people fl ow) are well thought out.They decided to site the new shed close to the

old where they could use the existing lane ways and infrastructure, but fi rst there were a couple of obstacles to

overcome.We started clearing a big lot of old pine trees that were growing

on the site in February 2011, then in March we began carting in clay to build the platform up. As you can see it was as low as that paddock, so the whole site had to built-up. We were bringing in 600 cubes a day, then once the foundations were set we started the actual shed on May 4, Chris explained.

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to suit our needs.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 19BAYLISS EQUITIES

Second hand platform brought significant savingsWe commissioned it on January 25 and

fi nished the last three months of the season in it. Doug Fowell from Heritage Farm Dairies had been involved right from the start, helping with such details as deciding on the site and orientation, shed and effl uent management design, and fi nally getting approvals and permits. Once the trees were cleared, he marked out the site and set up peg heights to guide Chris and Harry when they built it up. Then he came back and prepared the foundations for the milking platform and fi nally he built the new shed and yards around the platform.

The milking platform, Chris told me, was bought in one piece from about 15 km away.

50 tonne craneWe picked it up with a 50 tonne crane from Ian

Roebuck Crane Hire, put it on a truck and carted it in, up the road and through these top paddocks.

There were no real problems, but all the traffi c had to be off the roador at least was supposed to

be. They had it up pretty high to get it over all the road signs and this old lady came down Normandy Road and turned left, straight under the platform. Didnt see it, just drove off. To this day she wouldnt be aware shed done it, but it was lucky they were carrying it so high.

That defi nitely could have been nasty.Once we got it in we blasted and painted it

underneath, Chris continued. Dougs team poured all the foundation concrete for it to sit on; we put all the main bearing hubs in the centre then got the crane back to drop it in.

New Plymouth company Ian Roebuck Crane Hire did all the picking up and putting down. Ian Roe-buck has been in the crane hire business since 1979 when they started out with two cranesnow they have a fl eet of cranes ranging from 2.5 tonne to a 250 tonne Liebherr, a large modern transport fl eet and a staff of 24 with the experience and capability to handle any challenge.

Theyve built a reputation for a strong service ethos and a personal commitment in ensuring cus-tomers are put fi rst, and the company places a strict emphasis on health and safety. This reputation has ensured that his relationships with major customers fl ourishedincluding the Taranaki petro-chemical industry which today uses 85 per cent of the com-panys services. With this capacity and experience this job presented no problems at all.

New fi ttingsOn arrival the milking platform was in good

condition but sorely in need of an upgrade, so once it was on site they set to work. All the steel work was kept, but all new bearings, housings and fi ttings were installed, then they brought in Hamilton based Waikato Milking Systems to upgrade all the milking plant with up to date WMS equipment.

It had all Waikato Milking System gear on it originally so we brought them in for the

Second hand platform brought significant savingsfi nished the last three months of the season in it. Doug Fowell from Heritage Farm Dairies had been involved right from the start, helping with such details as deciding on the site and orientation, shed and effl uent management design, and fi nally getting approvals and permits. Once the trees were cleared, he marked out the site and set up peg heights to guide Chris and Harry when they built it up. Then he came back and prepared the foundations for the milking platform and fi nally he built the new shed and yards around the platform.

The milking platform, Chris told me, was bought in one piece from about 15 km away.

50 tonne craneWe picked it up with a 50 tonne crane from Ian

Roebuck Crane Hire, put it on a truck and carted it in, up the road and through these top paddocks.

There were no real problems, but all the traffi c had to be off the roador at least was supposed to

in one piece from about 15 km away. did all the picking up and putting down. Ian Roe-buck has been in the crane hire business since 1979 when they started out with two cranesnow they have a fl eet of cranes ranging from 2.5 tonne to a 250 tonne Liebherr, a large modern transport fl eet and a staff of 24 with the experience and capability to handle any challenge.

ethos and a personal commitment in ensuring cus-tomers are put fi rst, and the company places a strict emphasis on health and safety. This reputation has ensured that his relationships with major customers fl ourishedincluding the Taranaki petro-chemical industry which today uses 85 per cent of the com-panys services. With this capacity and experience this job presented no problems at all.

New fi ttings

in one piece from about 15 km away.

The upgraded Waikato Milking System works perfectly on the reconditioned platform.

The Wetit Teat Spray system control.

The Waikato Milking System's milk hub inside the reconditioned platform.

Coast & Country Page 20 BAYLISS EQUITIES

up-grade, we even installed Waikatos waves in the bails. We fi tted new bail gates, top of the line Waikato Smart electronic cup removers, a new Flo-max milk pump, reconditioned everything. All the pulsators came off, were retrofi tted, all the joins on the milk linesupgraded everything, now its pretty much state of the art, explained Chris. And

with Waikato Milking system gear, thats about as good as it gets.

Before all the new fi ttings could go in they needed pro-tection from the Taranaki elements, so Doug and his crew set to and worked through the winterchallenging at times, especially when it snowed, but neither the elements nor any-thing else could stop them producing a high quality product.

Doug doesnt just work with his custom-ers and continually

consult with them during the building process to ensure a design and layout that suits their needs; hes happy to physically work with them as well. If a farmer wants to actually work on the building (such as Chris and Harry packing the foundations) hes more than happy to accommodate them.

The Heritage Farm Dairies can incorporate pretty much anything the farmer needs. This shed incor-porates an easily accessible chemical storage room, a sliding mesh curtain across the cow entry and exit for bird proofi ng and grill roller doors for security and ventilation. Outside they offers a choice of round or rectangular yards, in this case they built

rectangular yards fi tted with a fully automated fl ood wash system using recycled water from the shed effl uent system diluted with a percentage of fresh waterseriously reducing water usage.

No stray voltageDoug is particularly strong on reducing stray volt-

age and static electricity.During construction we take special care to ensure

all the buildings and yards are completely earthed out, he explained. This includes using all fi bre glass FRP gratings which are non-conductive and insulate against any static electricity.

They must be doing it right because when Chris had the shed tested for stray voltage and static build up it came in with one of the lowest readings on record.

To one side of the shed Heritage Farm Dairies built a covered in vetting area that houses a fi ne exam-ple of good Kiwi ingenuitya Wilco & Waverley Wrangler hoof trimming press. The Wrangler has often been quoted as one of the most valuable pieces of equipment on a farm because it makes treating cows hooves safe and easy by immobilising the animal in slings. It then uses a system of slings and ropes to lift and restrain each leg so it can be worked on accurately and safely.

The Wrangler came about when nearly 20 years ago a young share milker, Wilco Klein Ovink, decided there had to be a safer way to treat cows legs and hoovesso he invented the Wrangler. Soon vets and other farmers persuaded him to enter it in the Fieldays Invention awards, which he won. It wasnt long before he gave up milking, started a small factory in the Bay of Plenty and is still turning out innovative products for farmers.

But back to the dairy. To wire the shed Chris got in another local company, Sinclair Electrical. Before he hired them he did a lot of homework to ensure he got the best, but one of the main reasons he went with Sinclairs was their ability to do all the refrigera-tion as well so when it comes to service

in the bails. We fi tted new bail gates, top of the line Waikato Smart electronic cup removers, a new Flo-max milk pump, reconditioned everything. All the pulsators came off, were retrofi tted, all the joins on the milk linesupgraded everything, now its pretty much state of the art, explained Chris. And

State of art upgrade

consult with them during the building process to ensure a design and layout that suits their needs; hes happy to physically work with them as well. If a farmer wants to actually work on the building (such as Chris and Harry packing the foundations) hes more than happy to accommodate them.

much anything the farmer needs. This shed incor-porates an easily accessible chemical storage room, a sliding mesh curtain across the cow entry and exit for bird proofi ng and grill roller doors for security and ventilation. Outside they offers a choice of round or rectangular yards, in this case they built

system gear, thats about as good as it gets.

fi ttings could go in they needed pro-tection from the Taranaki elements, so Doug and his crew set to and worked through the winterchallenging at times, especially when it snowed, but neither the elements nor any-thing else could stop them producing a high quality product.

Builders Heritage Farm Dairies have made an excellent job of all aspects of the shed no

matter which way you look at it.

Mark Ward from FIL.

The Wilco and Waverly Wrangler hoof trimming

system.

T E A T S P R A Y E R S

PH 07 578 0030 Page 21BAYLISS EQUITIES

Attention to detail inside and out

Mark Ward from FIL(R) with share milker Chris McQuaig.

A fl ood wash system is employed to keep the yards clean.

The Wetit Teat Spray system

delivery.

Fibreglass gratings to eliminate static and stray electricity.

By Graeme Dobson

hes only got one company to deal with. They turned out to be very good and very pleasant to deal with, said Chris. It wasnt straight forwardbeing a retrofi t when you said you wanted something there was a lot of other small things to think about, for instance the milk purge system and not being able to run the air line up through the centre gland so we put conduits through the concrete. Everything had to be in conduits underground. They did all that and had to be on site pretty much from the beginning.

Udder hygieneOne of the features that Sinclair installed is a Wetit

Teat Spray. Cow udder hygiene is important for the control of mastitis and Chris is a loyal fan the Wetit Automatic Teat Spray system. Wetit have been in the business of teat sprays for over 17 years during which their research has contributed to developing a system that gives a teat coverage second to none.

Ive been using Wetit for about eight years now, said Chris. I brought that system with me when I came back. I had in the old shed and then brought it over here. Unfortunately there was a delay in setting it up and teat condition went backward big time, but once we started using it again it came good pretty quickly. You certainly notice it if you dont use it. An important part of any dairy shed is sanitation, so Chris called in an expertMark Ward, South Taranaki and Wanganui area manager for Mt Maun-ganui based FIL (Farms and Industries Ltd). Mark set up a wash programme to suit the plant and ensure the wash is effective and keeps the plant clean, then provided all the chemicals to suit the dairys needs.

When the shed came in we bombed it (a really strong wash) to make sure it was completely clean and everything was working. Its all very well putting chemicals in, but if the plant doesnt actu-ally work.., said Mark. We checked the rubbers, made sure the clusters were getting fl ow through, the receiving cans and milk lines are getting what they need. Without all that working it doesnt matter what you put in, it just wont do the job.

On top of his fi xed service programme, if Chris has any issues with grading Mark comes in and fi nds the problems and fi xes it, but that doesnt happen often.

The platform is fi tted with an in-shed feeding system supplied by Auckland based stock food company PPP. The system is not as elaborate as some but, it loses nothing from its simplicity which in PPPs case equates to reliability. The system consists of two large storage silos linked to a mill that cracks the grain, then delivers a fi xed portion of grain and/or molasses to a feed bin for each cow to eat a while she is being milked.

The fi nishing touches were put to the dairy by D R Gray Ltd, local painters from just down the road in Hawera.

They were very professional, remarked Chris. Im pretty picky, but I decided to go with them after I looked at a shed up the road that they did. They did a great job of it, Im very happy with the painting side of things. D R Gray was established way back in 1956 and

today they are one of Taranakis largest and most successful painting contractors, a member of the Registered Master Painters and an accredited site safe business.

When the painters had fi nished the partnership not only had a state of the art dairy, theyd saved them-selves a good $400,000 by using a good second hand platform and retrofi tting it with quality plant.

it pays to havea wrangler

MODCOM

Coast & Country Page 22 MORRISON

Brrr does it get any colder or windier than this? Apparently

this weather is unusual for this time of year, but it was, after all November and still

very Winter-like when I visited Charlie and Leeanne

Morrisons new dairy shed at Waitotara.

The Morrisons farm consists of three adjoining properties. Charlie

purchased the original farm off his dad back in 1986, after working for wages then working up to lower order sharemilking. Charlies dad Milton used to be the chairman of the Whenu-akura Dairy Company back in its day.

The neighbouring farm was leased and share-milked in various partnerships in 1992, which helped Charlie grow his own business and lead to further farm purchases. Now two further farms have

been purchased that enable them to run as one farm.

There is a dairy shed on the top farm, and this latest acquisition had a 13-aside herringbone already on it. This third property was purchased in 2008. Charlie had been sharemilking on the existing farm for a few years when the estate at the time changed structure and gifted the property to QEII, who promptly put it on the market. Charlie and his wife Leeanne purchased the property through an agent, and joined it to the other two properties.

Luckily all three farms border one another, which allows access to all farms without the use of stock trucks to cart stock.

Because of the restrictions of the old 13-aside shed, and the fact that it was a struggle milking 170 cows, the decision was made to demolish the shed and build a new 24 aside DeLaval MidiLine Milking System, which will now allow the milking of 220 cows.

Brrr does it get any colder or Brrr does it get any colder or windier than this? Apparently

The Morrisons farm consists of three adjoining properties. Charlie

purchased the original farm off his dad back in 1986, after working for wages then working up to lower order sharemilking. Charlies dad Milton used to be the chairman of the Whenu-akura Dairy Company back in its day.

The neighbouring farm was leased and share-milked in various partnerships in 1992, which helped Charlie grow his own business and lead to further farm purchases. Now two further farms have

Left to Right: Bruce Clifton, Charlie Morrison, Tony James and Gary Wallace.

Three into one made senseLooking into the shed from

the yard.

Congratulations to the Morrisons on their New Dairy Shed.

Made in New Zealand

By Lois McKinley

PH 07 578 0030 Page 23MORRISON

During winter of 2011 the old shed was demolished and construction of the new shed began.

Charlie did site preparation with the use of his six tonne digger. When they began demolishing the old shed they found another old shed buried underneath it which was an old walk through. This delayed building by two days as it took considerable time to excavate the old buildings.

Alexander Contractors who also delivered and spread the bulk cartage of the metal for the races constructed two kilometres of races. AP40 and 21fine was used for this.

Richard and Justine Alexander have owned and operated their business for 20 years covering the local areas in South Taranaki.

The contracting business is equipped with five diggers and two bulk trucks. Richard says they have done four full dairy conversions now, plus they do a lot of bulk cartage, metals races and cart race metal as well as doing a lot of quarry work.

A foot in each campCharlies top farm is Fonterra

supplied, and the new shed supplies milk to Open Country Cheese. The reason for this is because of capital restraints, and Charlie wanted money freed up for farm capital. It also allows Charlie to have a foot in each camp, so to speak.

Tony and Kylie James are herd managers at the farm, and have been working on the farm for two and a half seasons at the time of my visit.

When Tony came from town he didnt know one end of the cow from the other. Previously a builder he has adapted extremely well to dairying, and has become a very important part of the dairying operation. Kylie has her own plastering business, but also assists in the day to day running of the farm and milkings.

Entry level is a good levelCharlie chose to install a DeLaval 24 bail

MidiLine Milking System, which was installed by Dairy Pro from Hawera.

The Morrisons chose to go with DeLaval and Dairy Pro because they were given a very com-petitive price and have also dealt with DeLaval

since the mid 80s.Gary Wallace from

Dairy Pro in Hawera was designated to show me around the DeLaval plant and what he considered to be the more important aspects of the Morrisons shed.

Gary was a dairy farmer for 18 years prior to his shed fitting career, so has a good under-standing of what is right from a milkers perspec-tive in the dairy shed, and has

no problems advising clients of particular ideas that may or may

not work better, so that the farmer can make a better informed choice.

Gary says, This is an entry level shed with few

bells and whistles, but it is a very user friendly and effective shed all the same.

The blower vacuum pump is an upgrade and is larger than what is normally installed for this size shed. The reason is that it provides a variable speed drive, and therefore the pump would not be running at maximum speed therefore saving running costs. The VSD is designed to stabilize the vacuum down the pit and to give better cow comfort.

The user friendly vacuum pump is an oil-less system, which saves the farmer having to main-tain the system when they already have enough man hours in the day to day running of the farm. A service schedule is put in place whereby Dairy Pro will come in and service and maintain the equipment.

The LVP 3000 Vacuum Pump includes a pre filter interceptor, which prevents any contami-

nants and dust coming into the line. There is also a secondary interceptor so absolutely noth-ing gets into the blower. The lifespan of these filters is roughly four to five years dependant on what type of feed is fed to cows. If using lots of grainy feed the lifespan of the filters is consider-ably shorter.

The filters are washed and checked as part of the service.

The pump itself is very quiet when fitted with the VSD. The equipment is brought in already pre-made and just bolted down on the floors.

The milk lines are 100 ml, which is standard size, and has high flow maximum air going through them. Throughout the shed adaptable entries have been installed to allow for milk line upgrades when and if required.

The pulsation is basic EP50 with filtered air. Each pulsator operates two clusters in alternate pulsation.

The pulsation is filtered to keep everything clean and extend the life of the product.

The shed has been fitted with DeLaval swing down jetters.

The clusters are MC 2 Proton (2+2), and the claws and shells are designed to provide a medium weight cluster. The claw features large bore inlets and outlet for high milk flow rates.

Gary says, A lot of what is in this shed is as close to bullet-proof as you can get.

Dairy Pro had two full time employees work-ing at the shed doing the installation of the DeLaval plant.

From start to finish it took about ten days, says Gary.

There is a Dairy Innovations supplied heat exchanger which was invented by Charlie him-self, and which won a Fieldays award back in 2004. The heat exchanger saves 30 per cent on hot water heating costs.

Cow comfort improved in the shed

Gary Wallace from Dairy Pro showing how the filter system works in the Vacuum Pump.

Ricky Lee from Hardwir

ed

showing off the meter bo

ard.

www.hardwiredindustries.co.nz0508 2 GET WIRED

ELECTRICIANS & AUTOMATION

WANGANUI WAVERLEY RANGITIKEI RAETIHI

(06) 358 5805

(06) 358 5806Fax

Phone

Mobile 027 275 6575

57 Mihaere Drive,RoslynPalmerston North, 4414

[email protected]

Address

[email protected]@centralsilosystems.co.nz

Jennings Engineering constructed and manu-factured all the pipe and yard work, bales gates for the shed.

It was a very well organised project, said Bruce, We all worked well together.

The drainage was done by Bruce and Charlie, and was future proofed so that they didnt end up with blockages at a later stage, and also

includes a big

inspection hole in the center of the yard. Bruce employs two labour units, Scott Ferris and Earl Donnithorne. And both of them assisted with this job.

Wired the Hardwired wayRicky Lee from Hardwired Industries in

Wanganui was on hand to guide me through the electrical installation process.

Disconnection of the old shed was done prior to the pole being moved to accommo-date the new shed.

Hardwired Industries did the full electrical install apart from the vat wiring.

The mains to the new building were installed after the conduiting was put in underground, prior to the concrete being laid.

Charlie knew what he wanted right from the start, says Ricky So it was an awesome job to work on.

One of the registered sparkies, Ben Runci-man project managed the job, and built the shed up to completion.

Hardwired Industries installed all new metering, plus lighting in the plant room, and pit control wiring.Hardwired Industries cover

quite a large area, from South Taranaki, to Wanganui and up into Ohakune, Waiouru.

Nathan from DR Gray Ltd did the painting of the brickwork and pit walls, with a coating of murafl ex.

Jack Gray founded DR Gray Ltd way back in 1956.

Years of dedicated service have seen it evolve into a trustworthy and effi cient company.

Jack started his painting business with one other painter and the business expanded rapidly throughout the 1960s and 1970s. At one stage forty-fi ve staff were employed working on the state-of-the-art Whareroa Dairy Factory in 1973.

Coast & Country Page 24 MORRISON

The shed was built by Bruce Clifton from Waitotara. Bruce has been a local builder now for eight years after returning to building after a break from it. Bruce builds houses, farm buildings sheds and dairy sheds.

Charlie chose Bruce because he was local, had good workman-ship and was more then happy to accommodate changes along the way if they were necessary.

The site itself was quite diffi cult and did require some changes early on. After making a few changes and getting it approved by council the build began in earnest. The design changed from the original plan so that the open side of the shed was turned to face south, to accommo-date cow entry and exit as well as yard design.

Charlie wanted to keep costs down so required some involve-ment in the building process which Bruce was more than happy to adapt.

Bruce laid the

block-work for the milk room and pit prior to commencing the build-ing work. From whoa to go Bruce was there for three months doing all he had to do to get the building fi n-ished in time for plant installation.

Because the build happened during winter there were days when the contractors were pushing wheel-barrows knee deep through mud to get the work done.

The milk room has been kitted out with a nice hardiglaze wall paneling, which apart from being durable and easy to clean, couples as a whiteboard for little happy birthday messages with hearts on it.

The steel beams were all put in place by Bruce and then Donald Jennings from Jennings Engineering in Manaia came along and welded them all together.

Well organised project

turned to face south, to accommo-date cow entry and exit as well as yard design.

Charlie wanted to keep costs down so required some involve-ment in the building process which Bruce was more than happy to adapt.

Bruce laid the

Jennings from Jennings Engineering in Manaia came along and welded them all together.

includes a big

inspection hole in the center of the yard.

Hardwired Industries installed all new metering, plus lighting in the plant room, and pit control wiring.

quite a large area, from South Taranaki, to Wanganui and up into Ohakune, Waiouru.

Nathan from DR Gray Ltd did the painting of the brickwork and pit walls, with a coating of murafl ex.

Jack Gray founded DR Gray Ltd way back in 1956.

Years of dedicated service have

By Lois McKinley

Looking into the pit.

The new vet race being used with Tony James to the left and AI

technician Murray Donnithorne.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 25MORRISON

Coast & Country Page 26 OLIVER

The dairys pretty straightforward and its always good to keep

things simple.

Its a little surprising that there are still conversions going on five minutes from Palmerston Northmost of the land that can be used for dairy is already producing. So when Ian Oliver purchased this 120 ha beef prop-erty he wasted no time converting it to a dairy unit. He started milking on April 1, 2011 and winter milked for the first season, but this year hes going to a more conventional season with a 300 strong herd

For his new dairy he looked into the pros and cons of the different sheds and systems on the market before deciding on a 32 aside herring-

bone, with room for expansion to 40 aside. Why a herringbone?

Because its simple, good flow and easy to maintain, said Ian. And its efficient,

it only takes about one and a quarter hours per milking.

The milking is done by share milkers Michele and Keil Berry who started with the new shed and seem more than happy with it. Its a great shed, very free flow-

ing. Cow flow is fantastic, actually I havent seen a better shed for cow

flow, said Keil.Where he could, Ian used local contractors

to plan, build and fit out his dairy, for instance the called in Matt Parkinson from Palmerston North company Crozier Refrigeration Ltd to install all the new dairys refrigeration needs. Crozier Refrigeration has been operating inde-pendently since 2007 and one of the reasons

Ian went to them is the strong service ethic theyve developed over that time. Matt puts all his customers on a regular annual service contractthe first ones freeand hes on call 24 hours for any emergencies, and because they cover an area within about an hours radius of Palmerston North, theyre well able to deliver on their service promise. But theres seldom a problem with the gear he installs.

Robust systemsWere using variable speed fan drives on

all the refrigerat

nfd 2012

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